The Fat of the Land: Or That's Where OUR Money Goes

A number of pundits in the past week have pondered, as I have, about the contrast between President Bush's call for us to conserve energy and his almost incessant travels around the country for photo-ops galore. It takes thousands of gallons of fuels for each stop of these visits, not to mention a significant expenditure of tax dollars for security, planning, Secret Service, etc.

And the communties he visits have to prepare for these visits too, with resources and personnel being diverted His Photo-Op's royal visits.

I can understand the President's urgency to pump up his dismal poll numbers. And he's particularly good at presidential appearances. Sadly however, too often they seem to be just that appearances.

During his re-election campaign, Bush made two visits to my hometown. On both occasions, attendance was by invitation only; party-faithful-only please. Of course, it appeared that every American supported him, because every person at these speeches did. Even the undecided, whom these events were presumably supposed to persuade, were kept at a distance. They didn't fit into the rosy-glasses version of the Bush Fantasy Presidency.

But as the one great Republican president said, "You can't fool all of the people all of the time." And the poll numbers started to nose drive even before Katrina's winds of reality sent them into free fall.

As the President goes from one Katrina or Rita ravaged neighborhood to the next, with his gestures of compassion and concern; the nation is learning that FEMA and Homeland Security were understaffed, underfunded, and bogged down with red tape; while being run by Republican cronies with little or no expertise. And like their ignoble leader, they tried to give us a rosy view of relief efforts; even as the media reports so unequivocally showed us the brutal reality.

Yes, the body count has proved less than originally feared; and the worst reports of violence proved to be only hear-say horror stories. And yes, the local governments bear some responsibility. But FEMA, the hero agency after previous disasters like Hurricanes Andrew and Hugo, should have been ready and should have done better.

And haven't we been told that our country is safer now, thanks to the Department of Homeland Security?

And now, we've been promised that the storm-ravaged communities and lives will be rebuilt, although the debate on how we will pay for this huge undertaking.

Some, like Robert Reisch in his NPR commentaries have called for a recall on "pork" and tax breaks for the wealthy:

http://www.robertreich.org/reich/20050928.asp

Fat chance of that. As today's Green Button Link article shows this would likely put a damper on the Republican Party's party, just as campus security might put an end to a fraternity kegger.

We're talking serious gluttony here. Just days after Katrina, Congress still planned to cut food stamp and Medicaid programs. And now there's talk of cutting the Medicare prescription program (Of course, a program that actually helped patients and rather than the the drug companies would be a damn good idea).

I remember watching Katrina's aftermath and thinking, "This is a perfect example of the Administration's vision for America." There it was for all the world to see: the rich safe and happy, the poor abandoned and miserable.

It's going to take more than a few handshakes and hugs to help your poll numbers Mr. President. How about putting some of our tax dollars where your mouth is? Show the America people you care about them. And not just the rich, Christian conservatives cronies you love and take care of so well.

Throw a few perks to the middle-class. And show the world that its richest nation can and will take care of its poor.

You remember the middle-class and the poor; don't you Sir? The people who do most of the real work in this country? The people who earn the wages, that we spend on the goods and services that we buy, the money that leads to the profits that make your rich friends just a little bit richer every day? Remember "We the People?"

We're the ones with the bucks, and the votes. We're where those darned poll numbers come from. We are America, Mr. President!

So, show us you really do care. Take back the pork projects. Hell, be really brave and take back the tax breaks. Go all out and give us a Supreme Court nominee that will be good for Country and Constitution, and not just for your Conservative party's agenda.

But you've already showed us where your faith and loyalty lie, in those 6,000 pork packets in the transportation bill, among other atrocities.

So keep wasting fuel and tax dollars. And keept glad-handing in front of all those cameras, Sir. It won't help the country. And it likely won't help the Republican Party, either.

But you might just have a promising acting career waiting for you in January 2009.